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Instruments
for judgement

Small, sharp tools for product work under uncertainty. Each does one job exceptionally well β€” and every one of them prints a verdict it can defend.

17
Instruments
0
Sign-ups
1
URL = the file
Index Number Β· Instrument Β· Job Β· The question it answers
01

Roadmap

Now / next / later columns, WIP limits, deck export β€” the plan as an artefact, not a promise.

What are we doing, in what order?β†’
02

Timeline

Milestones with P50–P90 whiskers and a merge-risk verdict; the snapshot compare draws the slip slide.

When, honestly?β†’
03

Bets

The quarter as a blotter of stakes, odds and payoffs β€” concentration risk included.

Where is our stake, really?β†’
04

Rank

Weighted-criteria ranking with a robustness shuffle β€” does #1 survive your own uncertainty?

Which one, and is it stable?β†’
05

Duel

Pairwise showdowns when a list is too long to rank honestly in one pass.

This or that?β†’
06

Map

Two axes, labelled zones, presets β€” position the portfolio and argue about placement, not vibes.

Where does everything sit?β†’
07

Tree

Probability-weighted decision trees with expected value carried up the branches.

What is this path worth?β†’
08

Why

Outcome β†’ assumptions β†’ solutions; the argument drawn so the weak link is visible.

Why do we believe this?β†’
09

Wardley

Value-chain evolution maps β€” what to build, buy, or let commoditise.

What moves next?β†’
10

Premortem

Write the failure story first, price it into an EV register, promote the real risks.

How does this die?β†’
11

Fermi

Driver-tree estimation with ranges that confess what must be true for the answer to hold.

How big is it, roughly?β†’
12

Gauge

Collect a room's estimates before anyone anchors it β€” Delphi rounds, chips, calibrated ranges.

What does the room think?β†’
13

Alarm

Base-rate playground β€” how often a monitor that's β€œ99% right” cries wolf.

Should this page me?β†’
14

Flow

Little's-law throughput sketches β€” where the queue actually is.

Why is it slow?β†’
15

Signal vs noise

Eight noisy quarters, one real shift β€” Deming's tampering and regression to the mean, made felt.

Did anything actually change?β†’
16

Paths

The questions inside the plan β€” what each answer buys, what happens either way, and whether the question can be answered at all.

What are we waiting to find out?β†’
17

Proxy Hunt

Stress-test whether a metric under pressure can quietly harm the outcome you want or one you need to protect.

What does this metric make easier to fake?β†’
CASE FILE

Case file

The binder above the instruments: paste each tool's URL as an exhibit and one link holds the whole decision β€” question, kit and verdict β€” behind a cover page.

Where's the whole case?β†’